When Dog Training Literally Becomes “The Challenge”
Royvon Dog Training Schools share their expertise as part of the
Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway Challenge
19 February 2005: 9 Million television viewers and a live studio audience eagerly awaited the unveiling of the next week’s
Saturday Night Takeaway Challenge between its co-stars, widely popular Ant & Dec. As many of the show followers
know, Ant & Dec are completely unaware of the challenges presented to them each week – some challenges, such as the
season opener featuring a re-enactment of the renown Gladiator competition, are presented and performed right on the
spot; however, there are also some challenges that require proper professional instruction and a whole lot of practice on
behalf of Ant & Dec. This night was one such challenge. Ant & Dec had just finished executing their skills on a tightrope
before being welcomed by two, very adorable, and very energetic chocolate Labrador retriever puppies, “Ronnie” and
“Pudding”. In one week’s time, both Ant & Dec are to be given a crash-course study on the art of dog obedience training!
The experts brought in to provide the one-on-one training are Mr. Darren James, Managing Director of Royvon Dog Training
Schools. Royvon is a positive reinforcement residential training school for dogs and their owners. The concept behind the
programme being residential is to provide a controlled environment where dogs learn to associate training with attention,
and visa versa, as a result training quickly becomes an inherent, repeated reward, and dogs enjoy the training process.
Teaching the necessary handling skills to the dog’s owner is another very important feature of the Royvon course structure,
therefore daily, detailed progress reporting and instruction are provided to the owner throughout the programme for the
holistic approach.
Royvon’s experience in not only training dogs, but in training successful dog handlers, made them an excellent candidate
for the ITV production team when the Challenge concept was pitched in the latter part of 2004. Kym Langer, Strand
Producer for the show, and genius behind the Challenge brainstorms and successes heard about Royvon’s unique services and secured them for the coveted role. Luckily finding the perfect pair of puppies was only a minor challenge within the planning process.
Pudding and Ronnie are brother and sister from a litter bred by Mrs. Sarah Gladwin of S. Darenth, Kent. Mrs. Gladwin, along with many other reputable London-based breeders, were contacted based on their associations with the Kennel Club. The Kennel Club’s primary objective is to promote in every way the general improvement of dogs, and using dogs of sound mind, body and temperament and supporting responsible breeding practices was of the utmost importance to Royvon in the search for the upcoming canine celebrity stars. Pudding is owned by Mrs. Gladwin, and Ronnie is owned by Craig and Julie Ticehurst of Dartford, Kent. Both owners seriously considered the reality of living without their beloved pets for the week of the training challenge before agreeing to loan them to the show. The assurance of their puppy’s well being and complete comfort helped to ease their minds in making the decision. The extra special care required to temporarily re-home the puppies with Ant & Dec, and prepare them for a studio audience was an essential detail to Royvon, as stated by Director, Darren James:
“We were adamant about having a looping audio tape made of the studio noise to play for the puppies for the days prior to the show. We also wanted puppies that were crate trained to ensure that there would always be a familiar comfort zone for them to go as needed. Pudding and Ronnie’s routine and temperament profiles were also collected for an uninterrupted schedule, and, again, to make sure that we were going to be working with happy, healthy little dogs.”
Darren goes on to say that it would have been nice to find puppies that Ant & Dec could consider adopting following the challenge after being told that they are both dog enthusiasts, but it was more important was to know that we had puppies coming from and going back to loving homes and families.
As expected, and in as much as Ant & Dec are dog enthusiasts, unless you have hands-on experience with puppies, there are many surprises that come with suddenly caring for one day-in and day-out. Whilst the training itself was progressing steadily throughout the week, there was a lot to be learnt in regards to adapting to a puppy routine and responding to all the behavioural issues outside of basic obedience. But, the open communication between those spending the time with the puppies and the puppy owners made the week’s transition as seamless as possible. And, most importantly, the owners were assured that when it came time for formal studio rehearsals, complete with lights, cameras, piped audio and dozens of new, strange faces buzzing about, both puppies entered the busy set with their tails wagging. Without a doubt, the puppies were not stressed. In addition, both puppies were highly enthusiastic to see their respective celebrity – Ant & Ronnie and Dec & Pudding had clearly bonded during the previous week’s living and training arrangements.
The Challenge itself consisted of a basic obedience obstacle course – in two minutes time, the handler and their puppy are awarded one point each for a total of seven exercises, including, and in order: sit, sit/stay, roll-over, recall, run through tunnel, climb up and down steps, and wait at gate for permissions to pass through before stopping the clock with a final sit on the Saturday Night Takeaway logo. Both puppies successfully completed six of the seven exercises, however Dec & Pudding were declared winners based on their ability to execute the drill in less time. This, the third of 10 total Ant versus Dec Challenges, put the score at Ant, 2, and Dec, 1. The fans of the show were thrilled to see the competition tighten by Dec & Pudding’s win.
Following the show, the owners were re-united with their puppies backstage where Royvon and the staff of Saturday Night Takeaway presented them with gifts of sincerest appreciation. Ant & Dec also made a very thoughtful appearance into the pup’s personal dressing room, where heartfelt good-byes were shared, as well as entertaining stories from the week’s events leading to the Challenge. It was a truly great week, full of challenges all its own, but at the end of the day, the pure love and unexpected joy that comes from sharing a bit of your life with a puppy is what will be remembered by all those involved.
About Royvon
The Royvon Dog Training Schools was established a near half-century ago in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales as Royvon Boarding Kennels by successful, award winning dog breeders Roy and Yvonne James. Today, their son and daughter Darren and Sarah not only continue this proud family tradition of quality care for pets, but are committed to growing and enhancing its services and overall well-being of the dog community.
The Royvon Mission
To provide high quality residential dog obedience training in modern facilities with well trained and caring staff. The focus is on effective dog training with a commitment to customer care – both to dogs and owners, and the aim is to build upon an outstanding record of obedience training success by introducing innovations in obedience training to retain a position as one of the leaders in the field in the United Kingdom.
For more information on Royvon service, please visit
www.royvon.co.uk and www.trainyourpuppy.co.uk
A well trained dog is a happy dog –
Please be a responsible dog owner
Photograph compliments of ITV. This image may only be used in association with the show and story provided, and the picture must be credited to ITV.
Photograph Title: The Royvon Challenge
Darren James, Caroline Pitt, Ant & Ronnie and Dec & Pudding